July 15, 2011 – 10:30am - Storm Update

As of 10:30am on July 15th, the Village of Gurnee had approximately 200 customers that remain without power since the beginning of the outage. Approximately 98% of the Gurnee customer base has been restored at this time. In addition to smaller outages scattered across the Village, a substantial outage is still impacting area north of Grand Avenue along Route 21. Com Ed is currently focusing efforts in this area with crew working in the vicinity of Glendale Drive and Fuller Road. Crews are also focusing on reconstructing lines along Depot Road. Com Ed estimates that 100% of customers should be restored by midnight tonight. A Com Ed representative is on-site and working directly with municipal leaders to prioritize locations and mobile resources. In addition, contract crews from states such as Georgia and Alabama continue to use Gurnee Mills Mall as a Command Center.

Residents with power restored may experience intermittent outages as the restoration efforts near completion and smaller issues are reported. If your power is restored and then goes out again, please report it to Com Ed. If your immediate neighbors are on and your power remains out, this should also be reported to 1-800-Edison-1.

Public Works crews continue to work through the Village removing downed trees and brush piles. Currently five Public Works crews and one contractor crew are actively working in different areas of the Village. Crews are slowly working towards the center of Village where a majority of the tree damage occurred and could not be removed due to the downed power lines. This is area bound by Fuller Rd. to the west, Rt 41 to the north and east and Washington St. to the south.

A bucket truck crew is working to clear the hanging and hazardous tree limbs from our parkway tress. This crew is working through the Ravinia, Bittersweet and Elysian Fields subdivisions. Thus far 102 parkways trees have been damaged, 72 have been trimmed of the hazards and will need to be removed at a later time. Thirty have been removed due to extensive damage.

Crews 2, 3, 4 and 5 are chipping crews. Crew 2 is working with the bucket truck crew in Ravinia, Bittersweet and Elysian Fields subdivisions, Crew 3 is working in the Glendale, Kilbourne, and Grand Ave. area and Crew 4 is on south Fuller, South, and Rogers roads. In addition, Crew 5, TGF Enterprises' crew, is working on North and South Brown Circle.

Crew 6 is a loader crew. They are continuing with brush pile removal east of Rt. 41 in the Village. This crew is hauling brush from this area and piling it at the Northwestern water tower for grinding on-site at a later date.

Public Works crews will be working into the evening hours tonight, as well as during the daytime hours tomorrow, Saturday, July 16th.

While the Village cannot assist homeowners in the cutting, clearing, or transporting of privately owned trees from your yard, we will assist with debris removal as long as it placed in the parkway in orderly piles with cut ends facing the street. Please be sure NOT to block the public streets or walkways when placing branches in the parkway. Public Works will make multiple trips over a period of weeks through the Village to remove brush. It is NOT necessary to call the Village to report brush that is ready to be collected.

Residents utilizing portable generators are reminded to follow all safety precautions outlined in the owner’s manual. In addition, residents with damaged overhead service lines where they enter the home should be aware that portions may be their responsibility for repair. More information on both topics can be found on the Village’s website at www.gurnee.il.us.